An informational blog offering helpful ways to reduce your toxic load and live greener, as part of our new holistic living blog network.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Green Christmas Presents Also Mean Green Gift Wrapping & Cards

Green Christmas presents aren't just
about what you choose to give as a gift - it's also important to
think about wrapping paper and even the greetings cards you're
sending out. Christmas cards are a fantastic way to get in touch with
people who you may not have spoken to for a while, and are perfect
for sending good wishes to family and friends. However, the numbers
quickly add up, and most of us will end up using huge amounts of card
for these yearly greetings. There are ways in which you can minimize
the environmental impact of the cards you send, and the gifts you wrap.

Make Your Own Cards

If you're really feeling creative then
why not try making your own cards from recycled materials? You can
use parts of old greetings cards, or scraps of card, to put together
cards that are personal and fun. This is an especially good idea if
you've got kids who enjoy arts and crafts!

You can also go digital and design your
own cards on the computer. This can be another fun project for you or
the kids and is an easy way to send out cards without wasting any
paper at all! Save the paper cards for only your closest friends and
family and you'll be helping to save a lot of trees this Christmas.

A lot of gift wrap is difficult to
recycle, especially since it gets torn up and thrown out with other
trash! Try not to add to this waste by using recycled materials to
wrap your green Christmas presents, such as old newspapers,
magazines, old brown paper bags, pretty reusable cloth, or wrapping that you've saved
from previous years. Most people won't mind you wrapping in this way
- in fact, you can usually make it look unique and creative with a
little effort! If you still want to buy wrapping paper, many stores
now sell recycled wrapping options.

After Christmas

Once Christmas is over you'll likely be
left with a huge number of Christmas cards that no longer have any
use. It's important that you recycle cards as much as possible -
whether this means re-using them for your kids' craft projects, or
dropping them off at local stores who include a Christmas card
recycling point.

Although these are easier to recycle,
you should also try to save as many envelopes as you can when
receiving cards. When it comes time to send cards again, you can
reuse the better quality envelopes by using special “reuse labels”
to cover up old details. This is a habit you can continue throughout
the year, too!

You can also recycle or reuse holiday gift wrap.
When unwrapping gifts, try to do it carefully rather than tearing it
open and you can save it and use it again. This is the perfect way to turn the
presents you receive into more green Christmas presents next year!

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About Me

Rose grew up on a farm in the Ozark mountains, learning about healthy living, sustainable organic gardening, and the important connections within the natural world and humanity.
Rose has since devoted more and more of her life to learning about health as a holistic system, rather than a static approach to specific illnesses. Rose is of the belief that all parts of the body and mind, just like all parts of the natural world and human society, are connected in an integral way, and learning to work with the entire system as a whole is the best way to true health.
Rose runs a website on holistic living, which covers all of the various areas which need to work together in able to live a healthy and balanced life.
http://www.newholisticliving.com